March 29, 2009

Snow is not what I really what I want to see in the garden by the end of March. I guess when the weather man said Chicago is 90% done with snow by the first day of spring I should have keyed into the 10% chance of snow part. At least it's mostly melted in the sunny spots by the end of the day. I wondered if there are lots of minerals in snow because I swear when I went out to check the garden the plants actually looked greener and larger. I was curious about this and thanks to the internet I see that my observation is right about the plants looking greener. Apparently snow has nitrogen in it and is considered the poor man's fertilizer. I guess I should pay mother nature for my first spring dose of organic fertilizer.

March 25, 2009

March 24, 2009

My growing space is just about filled to capacity with seedlings. I really need some warmer weather so I can move some out to the unheated green house.

I planted my Tomato seeds on March 19 and I have my first few seedling sprouting on March 24. The tomatoes that I planted are Manyel, Pineapple, Coustrelle, Tigerella,Yellow Currant, Wayahead and Ultimate.

March 19, 2009

Last spring I visited my Aunt Doris in Marin County California. She is a very inspiring gardener to say the least. The roses were not in bloom when I visited but I wanted to show you a little before and after.I think I can admit that I have rose envy. I can expect a small spring bloom on my roses before they are devoured by the evil doing Japanese Beetles in early July.

The lesson that I take from my lovely aunt is perseverance. This garden did not become this beautiful overnight but took many long years of effort and lots of pain. I try and remember that when I'm doing my spring cleaning in the garden. Thank you Aunt Doris for giving me a gardening dream to aspire to.

About Me

I'm not an expert gardener by a long stretch but I do enjoy growing my plants from seed. I mostly do this because I'm a frugal gardener but I also appreciate how it helps get me through a long Midwest winter.